Poster artwork; The proud city St Paul's Cathedral, by Walter E Spradbery, 1944

'The Proud City' was a series of six posters commissioned by London Transport in 1944. They presented powerful images of surviving buildings surrounded by the devastation of the Blitz. This is the original artwork by Walter E Spradbery for one of the posters. It depicts St Paul's Cathedral from Bread Street, which had suffered considerable bomb damage. Soon after the war began, unnecessary travel was discouraged and the production of London Transport publicity posters ceased. The new role of pictorial posters was to provide information and boost morale among passengers and staff. Spradbery remarked that the posters were intended to convey 'the sense that havoc itself is passing and with new days come new hopes.' His powerful vision of St Paul's provides a strong symbol of London's survival of the Blitz.